A local family have recently returned home after spending just under a year at the Edinburgh Sick Kids.
Stacey Nicol told Edinburgh Live how she spent 358 days at the hospital's Ronald McDonald House so she could be at her infant son's bedside after he was born at 24 weeks old. With her first pregnancy going smoothly, the 25-year-old shared how things took a sudden turn for the worst after she suffered an infection which caused her to enter early labour.
Describing the ordeal as "terrifying and scary", Stacey's son Sebastian was due to be born on August 23, 2021, but Stacey gave birth to him at 24 weeks on 15 May, 2021. Weighing in at just 670g, the tiny baby was rushed into intensive care at the Sick Kids where he was put on a ventilator, with Stacey unable to see him for four hours.
READ MORE - Adorable Edinburgh baby was first to have Spina Bifida operated on before birth
With her son suffering with multiple conditions due to his early arrival, the family spent just under a year at the EHCYP, with Stacey becoming the longest staying parent at the new Ronald McDonald House, which provides long term accommodation for families with children in the hospital..
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, she recalled: "It was scary and dramatic. It was really hard and worrying, there were so many emotions at first. We had been staying at the accommodation for Simpsons but we felt like long term it wasn't suitable, we couldn't cook or anything so we asked and they got in touch with Ronald McDonald and they took us in.
"It was a tough year but for me it ended up feeling like home because the staff were so welcoming and friendly. It allowed me to have the bond I have now with my son, if I didn't stay there I wouldn't have had that.
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"He's been though loads, when he was born he was ventilated multiple times, there's been issues with him having a narrow airway and been sent to Glasgow twice for surgery but none of that had worked so in the end they gave him a tracheotomy which in the end was the best thing that could of happened."
With the accommodation providing a lifeline for the family to have a level of normality while staying away from their Dunfermline home, it also meant Sebastian's family could visit him for a few hours on his first birthday.
After almost a year in hospital, the adorable youngster was finally able to head home a few weeks ago, with Stacey and her mum now adjusting to caring for him full time.
She added: "Me and mum have now been trained up on that, so we have to suction him sometimes, he's still on oxygen and he gets fed through the tracheotomy during the day and the night.
"I am so glad to be home but the first week was very tough just trying to adjust to Sebastian being home in a different environment. He's doing really good now though."
You can find more about Ronald McDonald house and the work they do here.
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